Exposure of preterm neonates receiving total parenteral nutrition to phthalates and its impact on neurodevelopment at the age of 2 months.

This prospective study assessed the exposure to phthalates of preterm neonates who received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the risk of neurodevelopment delays at the age of 2 months. Our study recruited 33 preterm neonates who required TPN upon NICU admission. Urine samples for analyzing phthalate metabolites were obtained at admission and then daily until the last day of receiving TPN.

The cumulative risk assessment of phthalates exposure in preterm neonates.

Phthalates are widely used plasticizers in various consumer products and medical devices, with some reporting as having estrogenic and anti-androgenic endocrine-disrupting effects. Premature neonates may be exposed to high levels of specific phthalates during hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) because of reliance on multiple medical procedures that pose a possible health risk. The present study utilized seven urinary phthalate metabolites of dibutyl phthalate isomers [(di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP)], butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) that had been previously measured in 33 preterm neonates sampled at hospital admission (N = 23) and daily during their NICU stay (N = 260).

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Use of Oral Glucose with or without Gentle Facilitated Tucking of Infants during Neonatal Echocardiography.

Objective: To compare the effect of oral glucose given with or without facilitated tucking (FT), versus placebo (water) to facilitate image acquisition during a targeted neonatal echocardiography (TNE).

Design: Factorial, double blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Preferential cephalic redistribution of left ventricular cardiac output during therapeutic hypothermia for perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Objective: To determine the relationship between left ventricular cardiac output (LVCO), superior vena cava (SVC) flow, and brain injury during whole-body therapeutic hypothermia.

Study Design: Sixteen newborns with moderate or severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy were studied using echocardiography during and immediately after therapeutic hypothermia. Measures were also compared with 12 healthy newborns of similar postnatal age.

The use of herbal preparations as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a sample of patients with cancer in Jordan.

Purpose: This study sought to describe the type, frequency, purpose and pattern of herbal preparation use as complementary medicine in a sample of patients with cancer in Jordan.

Method: The study took the form of a cross-sectional survey of patients attending the outpatient departments at King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC), a specialist cancer centre in Amman. The method was based on using a semi-structured questionnaire.